Comments on: Real Economies vs. Fake Economies

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:43:13 +0000

I know Walt — that’s what I love about what you’re doing, and what these guys are doing. All my farming experience is Midwestern, where the majority of farmering is commodity farming — a lot of those guys had a hard time rethinking (or couldn’t because of the debt loads) the way they farmed. But I agree with you — there’s always a way to make a living — if you’re resourceful and creative and willing to rethink your priorities. I guess that’s what I found so heartening about the Hardwick cooperative — the cooperative nature of it — that they did it as a group — the High Mowing folks working with Toms Greens to make soup out of the squash they didn’t need for seed.

By: Walter Jeffries

Walter Jeffries — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:48:41 +0000

“there was no way to make a living.”

I’ve heard and seen this sort of statement a lot of times, often in newspaper articles about the demise of this or that small town. I find the sentiment rather odd. There is always a way to make a living. The problem is some people expect other people with a way to do it 9 to 5. The solution is for them to get creative and make things happen for themselves.

By: dakota

dakota — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:37:33 +0000

I can’t remember where exactly I read an article (the Ethicurian perhaps?) about how every time a government or group of people invest in agriculture the results are much more productive than investing in technology, or value-added industry, or something like that. More jobs are created, more money is made, etc. Unfortunately, governments overlook this. It seems like such a simple thing to do… invest in your country or town’s food supply. It’s heartening to read about how people are taking matters into their own hands and turning things around like this. And your phrase “no real relationship to anything of actual value” makes perfect sense when applied to our global economy. One thing that I hope Obama doesn’t overlook in his plan is making the “humble” professions – farmers, butchers, bakers, carpenters – real and honorable again. We don’t hear “Oh! I’m going to be a farmer!” There’s a need for engineers, there’s a need for advanced psychology and English degrees, but we also need (far more in my opinion) the professions that we live on.

By: alison

alison — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:38:47 +0000

Thank you for this. I grew up in Craftsbury and so saw Hardwick’s store fronts empty out. It has been heartening to hear about the new energy emerging there and in the surrounding small towns. Similarly heartening to hear about similar ventures (green industries, small-scale agriculture) starting up in the midst of blighted urban areas; I think the NYT has carried several such stories lately. In the midst of global financial chaos and the cynical politics of election season, people are rebuilding community from the ground up.

By: maryn

maryn — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:06:26 +0000

Something else interesting about the timing of this story: On Sept. 18, the Publishers’ Marketplace service carried an announcement of the sale of a book called “THE TOWN THAT FOOD SAVED: How One Rural Community Found Vitality in Local Food,” by an author named Ben Hewitt, about, yes, Hardwick. PM is extremely widely read (cf me as evidence, here in Minneapolis) – makes me wonder whether someone at the NYT saw the announcement and thought, hmm, sounds like a story. Within their purview of course, but if I were that author I would be very annoyed.